Design management in practice: testing a training initiative to deliver tools and learning

Drives to improve industry performance are being hindered by difficulties in managing the construction design process and preventing the UK construction industry from delivering projects on time, to budget and to the specified quality. The paper reports on a research project at a major UK civil and building design and construction company to develop and deploy a training initiative capable of making significant improvements to its design management performance and deliver benefits to many project stakeholders. It describes the development, content and trialing of the training material and a suite of twenty-five design management tools to drive change throughout the organisation. The paper is likely to be of interest to those involved in design management and the development of tools and practices to help the industry improve design management performance.